It's still slash-and-snap time in eastern Europe, where the Russo-Ukrainian War is ongoing with seemingly no end in sight. The hits on fuel refining and storage, particularly hits on Russia's diesel fuel infrastructure, are affecting the price of diesel worldwide, and since pretty much everything in every nation's economy is affected the price of diesel fuel, the scrap is hurting everyone.
President Trump has been trying to broker a deal between the two warring nations ever since he resumed office in January 2025. He's still trying. Speaking to the press on Tuesday, he sounded cautiously hopeful about a deal.
.@POTUS: "That's what I've done my whole life is deals... They both want it to end and they don't know how to get to that point. There's a lot of hatred there between the two of them. They both want it to end; they don't know how to get there. We're going to get them there." https://t.co/F4prWbTM0U
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 13, 2026
In the first clip, the president answered a shouted question from the press:
Questioner (off-camera): What make you so confident that (Russian president) Putin wants the war to end more than (Ukrainian president) Zelensky?
President Trump: Only in dealing, that's what I've done my whole life, is deals. I think Putin wants it, probably... I think they both want it to end. You know, honestly, they both want it to end. And they don't know how to get to that point. There's a lot of hatred there between the two of them. They both want it to end, they don't know how to get there, but we're going to get them there.
That's liable to be a long haul, after this much death and destruction. Wars of this nature engender hatreds that can last for generations; Europe's history makes that very plain.
Then, in the second clip:
Questioner: Have we stopped sharing intel with Ukraine?
President Trump: No, we haven't. We help them. But we're really helping them get to a final answer. We want the war ended, Peter. We are helping them and we are sharing intel. We want the war to end. So we're working with them and with Russia, on getting the war to end.
If President Trump makes this deal, it may be the single biggest, most consequential deal of his career — if he can get it done.
As I've been saying and writing since this whole thing first blew up in 2022, the best Ukraine and Russia can probably hope for is a return to the status quo ante 2022. Russia keeps the Crimea with that lovely warm-water port, and pulls out of all the Ukrainian territory it now holds. And that's where any deal is likely to founder. Putin may not budge on his claim to the parts of Ukraine with a large Russian-speaking population, and Zelensky may well stick on having the Crimea returned.
Unfortunately, that may scupper any likely deal until, as has to happen sooner or later, one or both of those national leaders is replaced. And the odds of that happening while President Trump is in office? Putin's not looking too vigorous of late, but he doesn't look sick unto death, either; and Zelensky seems to be in pretty good shape.
And so, the fighting goes on, with no immediate end in sight.